Shark Point
by DancingStar01
Summary: People are attacked by a harmless animal in the sea near a small island. IN CHAPTER 2 THE BLOODENING CONTINUES!
1. Shark Point

Title: Shark Point  
Author: DancingStar  
Pairing: Connor / Lindsay  
Rating: 12  
Special Guest: Me! (Seems like I love being a marine fauna expert!)  
Summary: People are attacked by a harmless animal in the sea of a small island.  
Notes: You don´t want to know when I had the idea for this story: I have been surfing again on my all-time favorites Web site to shop. But not that this has something to do with bloodthirsty sharks...!  
Happy Valentine's Day! I know it´ll still last one week until February 14th, but…

**Shark Point**

A little black boat struggled through the turbulent waves of the sea in front of the small island Shark Point. On board of the dinghy were two men: each of them was wearing a diving-suit and they had big, heavy oxygen tanks. One of them put on his flippers. The water seemed to be very cold this time of the year. It was only February and Shark Point was not even near the equator.  
Two years ago, was an old tanker sunk near the island and the men had heard would have settled corals there. Finally, it was their job to investigate the corals: The University of Sydney had sent them.  
They put on their diving goggles, dropped into the sea and swam slowly into the depths. The water was very clouded today, but they still had good visibility. They were already diving in much more dirtier waters.  
The old wreck appeared in front of them. They took photographs with an underwater camera and while they were busy with their work, they didn´t notice when a giant shadow approached. The shadow circled the ship at a safe distance, watching the strange visitors and when he became convinced they present no danger or resistance, he accelerated his tempo and the giant shot in a furious pace to the two divers.  
At first the men were frightened when they saw the huge animal, but when they saw the rough, spotted skin and his wide mouth and the small fins, they calmed down. Such animals were generally peaceful.  
They were taught a lesson, when the huge Whale Shark suddenly uncovered a series of sharp teeth and continued swimming to them in a rapid speed. He grabbed one of the divers´ legs and dragged him into the depths. Shocked, the second diver wanted to swim to the surface as fast as possible. He had almost reached the water surface as a type of blood cloud rose to him from the deep. Because he knew what this meant, he was careful, not to pass on the spot.  
He turned around briefly and saw the dark shadows had begun to catch up to him. The rescuing boat came closer, but at that moment something grabbed him on the lower leg and a sharp pain shot through him. He also was drawn in the depths by the Whale Shark.  
This was not the first incident in the Ocean off the small island of Shark Point. Last week a fishing boat was attacked by an unknown animal, people could speak of luck the ship was not sunk. Past weekend a woman disappeared without a trace at the beach and a surfer who admittedly underestimated the chill of the water, also disappeared and wasn´t seen again.  
The fatal accidents in the sea became more frequently.

A friend and almost-relative of Cooper lived on the little island. Actually, the team had some days off and Cooper had asked if they wanted to fish with him. Neither Connor, nor Peter and Lindsay wanted to join him and so they were grateful when they heard about the incident, which occurred here.  
"What irony," said Peter, when he took a laptop bag out of the car, "The name of the island seems to be program." They had just arrived.  
Shark Point was a small island at Oregon´s coast. About two thousand people lived on the island, which was not far away from mainland. It wasn´t a tropical paradise: You hadn´t to travel for a long time until you reach a small town, which belonged to Washington State. The farther north you drove, the cooler it was at sea.  
Cooper knew Sandy Reynolds since she was little and if he was right, she was now twenty-three years old. Her father had studied with him and he had seen her several times when she was a young child, but they talked on the phone almost weekly about their work and so Cooper had learned about the situation.  
Even in childhood she had been interested in marine animals and so it hadn´t surprised him she studied oceanography. Once Cooper thought she would rather belong to the people who really wanted to fly in space one day: He had heard his old friend often talking on the phone that his then eight-year-old daughter wanted to be an astronomer. Now he was glad Sandy had decided to study the marine fauna, because her knowledge in this area would help them very much. Currently, Sandy took care of a small Shark Reef Aquarium on the island. It housed some harmless shark species, which were kept there for observation purposes.  
The team reached a building which was painted on the outside with fishes. Next to the front door was a mail box. Peter already rang the doorbell and no one answered. "Nobody´s at home," he said.  
"There's a boat," Cooper noted behind the house was a jetty where now an old yacht anchored. A young woman with long, red hair jumped off the ship and rushed to the pier. "Uncle Cooper!," she exclaimed excitedly. Cooper was actually not her real uncle, but he and her father had been good friends. Sandy was happy to see him and hugged Cooper. Then she met the team. She was happy her uncle had come to Shark Point.  
"You said, strange things happen here," recalled Cooper.  
Together they entered the building. Inside there was a huge aquarium in which many colorful fishes were swimming, the ground was covered with corals. Sandy reported a dead diver was flushed on the beach a few days ago and the pathological examination revealed the bite marks were part of a very special animal.  
On the way to the office they had to walk under a tunnel. They watched how a Hammerhead Shark glided elegantly through the water over their heads. Finally they reached the office, the walls were covered all over with pictures, showing sea animals. The office was nice, but pretty chaotic. Sandy went to a shelf, took a folder and opened it. She showed them some photos she had taken.  
"The size and shape of the jaw suggests a Whale Shark. Moreover, some fishermen saw a Whale Shark outside in the ocean", she put the file on the table in front of them, "I have never heard that Whale Sharks have teeth."  
"Statistically, most people are attacked by Tiger Sharks and Bull Sharks," said Cooper, "Whale Sharks are harmless to humans."  
"I know," Sandy said, "In February it´s too cold for Whale Sharks in these waters. The coast of Oregon isn´t even their distribution area."  
She knew it couldn´t make any sense why a seemingly harmless Whale Shark would attack people.

In the evening a terrible storm raged over the island and in the small town was no hotel, but only on the mainland. The team was more or less forced to stay at the Shark Reef Aquarium. After she had cooked for her guests and they had dinner (where Peter dared to ask if her red hair color was real or just dyed), Sandy decided to feed her animals and she taught Lindsay how to feed the sharks with the aid of gripping pliers. When they fed the animals with fish, Lindsay noted one of the Hammerhead Sharks had a huge scar on it´s body and she asked how this injury came.  
Sandy explained the Hammerhead named "Sushi" and she had rescued the shark girl when she was a baby half dead from the Sea of Japan, after a whale hunter cut the shark out of his fishing net and throw it back into the water, bleeding. Since then, "Sushi" lived here.  
Lindsay still dealt with the question why a peaceful animal suddenly lost the nerve and killed people. "There is only one reason why an animal would be so aggressive," suspected Lindsay and Sandy was excited to hear the answer, "It lost a pup... You have said that Sushi nearly drowned in a fishing net if this man had not pulled her out of the water."  
That sounded logical. But she had not heard that a young dead Whale Shark was found on the beach or drifting on the ocean. Such spectacular event couldn´t be hidden long.  
They decided to talk about something else and Sandy asked if the guest room was fine, which Lindsay had received. Lindsay nodded. The room was very nice. Connor, Cooper, and Peter had to stay on the couch in the living room or office because the lack of space. Lindsay suggested it was very scary in the aquarium at night. The water in the glass tank was even ablaze with light at night. "As long as Peter does not come up with the idea to swim alone with the sharks, there´s no need to be scared... And he should keep away from the seal dummies," Sandy suggested. On the wall two black seal decoys leaned, which were often used as a toy or for hunt training. When Lindsay saw the decoys, Sandy clapped her hands like a seal and squealed like one. They laughed and immediately Sushi in the pool threw her tail back and forth restlessly. She knew the seal sound.  
Finally they were done with shark feeding. They cleaned up the empty buckets and Sandy said if they liked to, they could dive tomorrow with the innocuous Lemon Sharks which lived in the aquarium.

In the morning during the breakfast Sandy received a call from a colleague who observed a group of Orcas, which moved to the north. Her colleague sounded very excited and he told her he found the matriarch of the group of whales floating dead in the ocean.  
"Are you sure it was the matriarch of the group?", She asked and gave her guests coffee.  
"Yes," replied the colleague and he said he kept the animals apart by their dorsal fins. Sandy of course knew and she had learned in the study the Orca Whale was the largest mammalian in the sea. When her father was alive, they took a trip out of the ocean and had observed how an Orca Whale attacked a Great White Shark and killed him. Afterwards he told her that Orcas love to eat shark liver. Which animal could be able to kill an adult female Killer Whale?  
After breakfast they left with Queen Miranda, the old yacht, to visit the colleague who brought the matriarch of his group of whales to the beach. On the way they passed a rocky sand bank. Sandy looked at it anxiously. "Actually, a huge seal colony is living on Grand Banks," she said. But now the sand was deserted. Since she lived here, there was no day on which hundreds of seals weren´t resting here or taking care of their pups.  
After another half hour, they reached a secluded beach on the coast. They had seen the black sea mammals from a distance. Sandy slowed Queen Miranda´s engine, anchored and all came off the ship. They saw the dead Orca Whale: On the right side was a huge bite, the flesh hung in shreds from the body. In addition, part of a pectoral fin was bitten off. Above the carcass already hungry seagulls circled and it reeked of dead fish. They took photographs of the dead animal and returned home. Sandy immediately wanted to develop the pictures. It took almost the whole evening, so she asked Peter to feed the Lemon Sharks with gripping pliers. Lindsay should help him, because she had helped to feed the two Hammerheads.  
The photos were done after dinner when the team was watching "Jaws" on TV. As if there wouldn´t have been enough shark attacks here!  
Sandy told in passing that her colleague, the Whale- Guy, had called again. He had told her the bite marks on the dead whale were identically with the marks found on the diver. "That means it's always the same animal that attacks people?", asked Cooper and Sandy nodded, "But what I´m worried about is: Whale Sharks usually eat fish and plankton. They never attack wild Orca Whales. Normally a Whale Shark aspirated food and filtered it through the gills. A close relative of the Whale Shark, the Basking Shark, was swimming through the ocean with wide open mouth and let the water flow through its gills. From this scene was even a picture at the entrance of the aquarium.  
Actually, she could not believe a Whale Shark should be responsible for all this. Should really ...  
"We interrupt the broadcast for a special report," suddenly a newscaster on TV said, "This evening, tourists in Port Reyes found a group of dead Whale Shark pups. Because the young animals belong to a new form of Whale Sharks, the dead bodies were brought to the Marine Research Institute in San Diego. Oceanographers figured out the young animals were attacked by a huge Orca."  
"You idiots!", Sandy grumbled about the messaging people and Cooper was surprised by this expression of his niece, "It was a shark, a harmless shark." She went to the phone and the team watched how she spoke with another colleague. She asked him to make impressions of the bite marks and tell her the results. Then she went out.  
"What´s wrong with her?", asked Peter confused and Cooper had an idea: "What would be worse: a male or a female Shark Wale that kills all those people and animals?"  
The answer was simple: a male animal would be worse because it could reproduce faster.  
"The problem is: Whale Sharks give birth up to 300 pups in one pregnancy."  
In the background Peter muttered a quiet "Oh God." He couldn´t imagine another 300 beasts outside in the ocean.  
"You think, our Whale Shark is female?", asked Lindsay.  
"We have to expect that." After all, the newsreader on television said the pups were a new form of Whale Sharks. Cooper thought his suspicions to the end. If the animal was actually female, this would explain the mutation of the pups. They probably had not survived because they were not pure-bred animals... or because the mother had attacked her own pups. Cooper remembered that the mother might have been no pure bred. He believed it was a hybrid, trying to reproduce. However, he had heard of Tiger hybrids bred in zoos, but they were infertile. He wondered where came the mother from?

"Excuse me?", shouted a man from a shipping company at the next evening. A Part of the team was still busy with the evaluation of bite marks and Peter came to the closed door. "I've got a delivery for the Shark Reef Aquarium," said the man, pointed to a huge box and handed Peter a note, he should sign. Peter then managed the box alone into the main building´s office and noticed how hard it was.  
"What's in the box?", asked Peter. He wasn´t in the mood to spend another night at the aquarium´s office: Last night he got up and had been looking for the toilet when he walked past the brightly lit shark pools. He found it almost scary to watch the sharks.  
"Looks like a buoy," said Lindsay, when Peter had unpacked the freight. She thought, it wasn´t right to open the package.  
"To be honest, this is a device which´s part of a system that sharks stay away from the island. The Research Institute in San Diego sends the buoys and they will soon be placed around the entire island. These should be placed here till Grand Banks." Sandy hoped the buoy would help. The buoys should send out a signal that sharks stay away from the island, but Sandy did not believe it would really help. Moreover, the signals were dangerous for the Dolphins, which lived in the sea.  
The office phone rang and Lindsay, who sat behind the desk, answered. "Shark Reef Aquarium at Shark Point", she introduced herself. Then she handed the phone to her hostess. "Someone named Professor Madison is on the phone," she whispered. She hadn´t heard for a long time from the old professor and first Sandy thanked him for sending the buoys. Professor Madison, however, liked the sound of his own voice, that's why the conversation lasted nearly an hour.  
"I hope these kind of defense system works", Connor said. Then he asked when they wanted to test the buoys out on the ocean. "Not today," said Cooper, "One of the shark tanks is leaking and before it´s totally broken, the shark has to move into another pool." It was the pool of a harmless Carpet Shark but because he liked to hide in the sand on the bottom of the pool, it was not easy to find him. So they had no time to intermit the buoys today. In addition, it was already dark outside and cold.  
"Can we help you?", asked Lindsay.  
"Yes," Cooper nodded, "Let me know when you see the little shark."  
Lindsay actually thought they could do something useful, but she decided to help Cooper. She dragged a black plastic bucket to the defective shark tank. In front of them were already several water-filled buckets. Through a window she saw next to the old yacht behind the house a small motor boat in the ocean. She turned to Connor, who had received the special mission by Cooper to help her to catch the shark. Connor brought a net with which they should catch the shark.  
"Connor, what do you think if we place the defense system- buoy? Cooper said we should help. Let´s do something."

The new pool for the little Carpet Shark was soon finished: it was filled with salt water, the sand floor was thick enough so the shark could dig it. Now only the resident of the new pool was missing. Cooper waited for Connor and Lindsay to bring the shark and because he waited more and more, he decided to look why it took so long. He was almost frightened a little, when he saw the black plastic bucket next to the old aquarium. He also noticed that the boat was missing. Cooper went back to Peter, who was sitting in the office and he was talking on the phone.  
"Little Leslie is gone!"  
Little Leslie was a small boat and it belonged, like the yacht Queen Miranda, to the vessels of the aquarium. They immediately had an idea where the boat was and who was on board.

Meanwhile, the little boat sped through the water and the engine hummed and growled loudly. When they reached Grand Banks, Connor turned off the engine so the boat wouldn´t crash on the rocks, which were on the sand bank. He stretched for a rock and one moment later Little Leslie was pushed to side. Luckily, Connor stayed on board, but Little Leslie came closer to a sharp stone edge. Of course it was clear to Lindsay who or better what moved the boat and she grabbed Connor's hand and at the last moment she jumped off the boat with him. She slipped on the rocks, half covered with water, she fell and felt a terrible pain in her head and wrist. Connor helped her out of the water and they remained sitting together on the stone. Their invader from the depths pushed the boat out to sea then returned to them and in front of them it opened a gigantic mouth. It was almost like it wanted to intimidate them with the razor-sharp teeth. Finally, the animal disappeared in the depths, but it was too dangerous to swim out to the drifting boat.  
Connor helped Lindsay to get up and went with her to the highest point of the sand bank. They run for shelter behind a large rock from the elements. "Your jacket is wet," Connor noted, as he leaned her against the cold stone. In addition, she had injured her head, she was bleeding. He asked her to take off her wet jacket and gave her his jacket.  
He was glad that a backpack with the equipment could be saved. The signal pistol would hopefully help them. Because there was no wood on the sand bank, they couldn´t make any fire.  
"Do you have a cell phone with you?", he asked, Lindsay nodded. She pulled the phone from her jacket pocket, but it was broken. It had not survived the crash on the rocks.  
"What about the radio? And the buoy, where is the buoy?", she asked. Connor told her she should guess where it was and she knew the answer: Little Leslie and the buoy were floating on the ocean.

"Why didn´t you tell me they want to set the buoy?", Sandy was almost insane. How foolish it was to go out on the ocean at night on a motor boat!  
"We haven´t known it!", Peter defended.  
"The buoy´s technology isn´t ready yet!"  
"You mean the device is just a test?", asked Cooper in horror, his niece tore her hair in despair and asked him what he thought, what Professor Madison wanted to discuss with her for one hour. She made her way to Queen Miranda. There was a radio. Maybe she could reach Connor and Lindsay.

Connor had lost all sense of time. It seemed to him, as he and Lindsay waited for hours till they were finally rescued by someone. He hoped Peter and the others had noticed they haven´t returned until now. Lindsay shivered a little bit. Her forehead was leaning on his shoulder, but she was still breathing calmly and evenly. "Is your headache very bad?", Connor wanted to know worried.  
"It's tolerable," Lindsay replied wearily, "The cold is almost unpleasant." Because of her downfall into the ocean her jacked was soaked with water and her sweater was a little bit wet, too. It was nice from Connor to give her his jacket after he had escaped unscathed, when the shark rudely separated them from Little Leslie. "Aren´t you cold?", he heard her voice.  
"A little," but Connor remembered the fleece blanket what was in the backpack and grabbed it. Lindsay thought she shouldn´t use the blanket alone, so she threw her arms around him and clung to him. She heard him laugh softly and she asked him why he did it. Their breath formed clouds in the air.  
"We both have to strand on a sand bank and a shark has to attack us before we come a little bit closer."  
"What's so funny?", her voice was very gentle when she snuggled to him under the blanket.  
"Nothing... Actually... What are your favorite flowers?"  
"White roses. Why do you want to know that?"  
"Because my next question would be, what I have to do so you go out for dinner with me. Just you and me."  
She hadn´t expected that he would flirt with her. "If that's your style, to ask me here on a date, then it´s quite weird," she thought for a brief moment, "You have to protect me from the shark. I think then I would go out with you." She felt like he gave her a gentle kiss on the ear and then muttered to her she should choose a nice restaurant for their first date. Lindsay giggled, but that pleasant sound stopped, when they saw the huge Whale Shark appeared in the ocean ant then it disappeared in the water into the depths of the sea.  
"Can Whale Sharks actually jump out of the water?", asked Lindsay. Her head and her arm ached like crazy, but at least the blood in her wound had dried a bit.  
"Unfortunately I don´t know," Connor answered her questions very honestly. But he could not imagine that the animal was able to balance a clumsy body out of the ocean. However, he did know that Great White Sharks were able to jump out of the water until he read a book about a small island named Seal Island on the coast of South Africa.  
Connor felt like Lindsay´s head was getting heavier and her lashes were gently tickling his neck. Her eyelids fluttered. He could not let her sleep in this cold. Therefore, he called her name and she told him how tired she was. "I can´t stay awake," she murmured.  
"You have to... It's extremely cold and your open wound ...", worried he petted her cheek, "You might never wake up."  
Of course she understood his concern, but she was really tired. "Hold me", she whispered and snuggled up to him. She knew there was no escape from this situation, if they were not found in time.

It took almost two hours until Sandy in the interior of the yacht found the buoy´s signal after nobody answered her radio messages. She worried more and more and imagined the wildest stories, why Connor couldn´t answer the radio. Finally, the tracking device beeped in front of her. She printed out a map on which the exact position of the buoy was shown and she assumed the buoy was still on Leslie Little. With the sheet of paper in her hand Sandy ran back to the main house, where Cooper was trying to reach the Coast Guard, Peter spoke to the local police, but they did not feel responsible.  
"I was able to locate Little Leslie," she cried, slamming the paper on the table. The boat was located about one mile west of Grand Banks. She told Peter and Cooper, they should get the guns which were stored in a locked cabinet in the basement.  
Outside, they prepared Queen Miranda and drove off. They hoped they would not need the guns, but if they had to use them, then they could not prevent it. After all, their friends were in danger.  
They had no idea what danger Connor and Lindsay were. They sat still on Grand Banks behind the rock. But suddenly Connor heard a loud splash. He had closed his eyes for a second and when he opened it, he saw the sharp teeth of the Whale Shark and he swallowed them both with one single bite...

"No!", Connor quietly exclaimed and banged with the back of his head against the stone cliff. Relieved, he realized it was just a dream. He and Lindsay were still on Grand Banks. She was sitting right next to him, her head nestled against him. Worried, she looked up at him. Not his nightmare was the reason for her concern, but a different sound that came from the other side of Grand Banks.  
"Don´t run away," Connor said to her, got up and walked around the rocks. He did not believe what he saw: The Whale Shark had dug with its huge body a considerable amount of sand and some of the rocks were already plunged into the sea. Connor knew what the animal wanted to do. It probably wanted to dig away the ground under their feet, so they ended up at some point in the natural water and it was able to eat them without much effort.  
He went back to Lindsay and sat down beside her. "She is quite intelligent," he told her and reached for the backpack he had with him. In the backpack there was a signal pistol. Because at this time nobody was near Grand Banks, nobody would notice the signal.  
"Do you think she´s gonna kill us?", Lindsay asked worried.  
"She will try anyway," said Connor and threw his arms around Lindsay, "Are you still tired?"  
"No," she shook her head and trembled. But it was getting colder and she suspected the temperature was close to freezing point. "Tell me something... ", asked Lindsay.  
"What do you want to hear?", He wondered, how he could cheer her up a little, "I have two older siblings," he said suddenly, "When we were children, we played, we were astronauts. My brothers had placed our mother's kitchen pots on their heads and I thought I could put a huge pitcher on mine. Unfortunately, my head disappeared in the pitcher."  
Lindsay laughed softly when he told it.  
"... Fortunately, my brother quickly realized in which situation I was. He took a hammer and struck the pitcher and freed me." The cold gnawed relentlessly at their fingers and because it was getting worse, Lindsay clung on to him. "Connor, why´d you ask me if I would like to go out with you?"  
"I wanted to do this a long time ago. Maybe I hadn´t enough courage, maybe I did it because it might be possible we don´t survive and then it would only be half as terrible if you don´t want to go out with me."  
"How can you say that?", Lindsay sounded horrified. She raised her head and looked at him. The cold wind was blowing a few strands of hair out of her face. She could not imagine that there was any woman who would want to go out with such a courteous, loyal and charming man like he was.  
"I'm glad you've said yes," Connor raised his hand gently to touch the cold skin of her cheek. Then he leaned toward her and kissed her. For a moment she forgot where she was and how cold it actually was. She sighed, as they broke the kiss. "You´re a great kisser," she noted and he laughed.  
"Can I return that compliment?"  
Lindsay blushed and she giggled.  
Suddenly they heard a noise on the sea. It sounded like an engine and instantly Connor grabbed the signal pistol. If he doesn´t fire the flare, he never had to do this anymore because they were frozen until tomorrow morning. The bright red ball shot whistling into the sky.  
Cooper and Peter were standing with night vision equipment on the bridge of the old boat and they saw the flare. "There!," Peter called and Sandy stopped Queen Miranda's engine. They also saw how the Whale Shark tried to destroy the sand bank. Cooper immediately started to shot at the animal with his shotgun. He hit the shark in back and then it let go Grand Banks and plowed through the water. It swam straight to Queen Miranda. Sandy let out a panicked cry and her uncle fired the shotgun as much as he could. He hit the animal, too, but it did not seem to be impresses. Only when Peter came with another shotgun and hit the animal several times in the eye and forehead, it slowed the speed and it stopped in front of Queen Miranda in the ocean.  
With the yacht they pushed the motionless shark up to the Grand Banks. Finally they had to save Connor and Lindsay.  
Arriving at Grand Banks, Peter jumped over the railing. "Come on board," he cried and helped Connor and Lindsay to enter the yacht. "We lost the buoy," Connor apologized first.  
"Don´t worry. Main thing is you are safe", Sandy said. Then they all were standing side by side at the railing, gazing at the motionless animal. "What´s that?", Lindsay asked, pointing to the green slime which covered the animal´s head. The stuff smelled like a garbage dump.  
Even Sandy did not know what it should be, so she went inside and took a cotton swab to take a smear of it. She packed the swab carefully into a plastic container.  
"What do we do with it?", Cooper was visibly at a loss and he hoped the animal was knocked out, hopefully forever. But Peter had already an idea: "Go to the bridge of the ship," he said, "Sandy, you start the engine and when I tell you, you drive as fast as you can."  
They did what he said: Connor and Cooper helped Lindsay, Sandy started Queen Miranda's engines and Peter went into the interior of the old yacht to get the gas can and the signal pistol he had found. He tipped the contents of the canister over the motionless animal, poured some liquid into his mouth and then reached for a pistol. He called out to Sandy, she should depart immediately and the ship began to move. When they were far enough away from the Whale Shark, Peter aims the pistol at him. The shot had to hit, they had no second rocket. It was aimed at the mouth of the animal, the cartridge fired away and he was lucky: it landed right in between the animal´s teeth.  
Queen Miranda rocked uneasily in the sea when the wave of explosion reached the boat and the passengers were holding themselves at the railing when shredded meat parts splashed into the sea. All of a sudden it smelled of blood and Sandy decided to disappear as quickly as possible. She had an idea what the green liquid at the head of the beast was and she told her uncle and Peter about it, who had cleaned up the flare gun and came to her. "I guess, it's toxic waste," she said flatly, "Two years ago in the sea a toxic waste tanker ran aground. Today, there is a beautiful Coral Sea, although the water is too cold." Peter and Cooper also speculated the Whale Shark was involved in this accident, somehow, and the toxic waste substances mutated him in appearance and behavior. And how they should figure out later, the smear by the animal´s skin contained actually a huge part of toxic waste. Peter asked her what they should do next and Cooper suggested to take Connor and Lindsay to hospital. After all, they had spent hours in the freezing cold.  
They watched how Lindsay was standing alone at the railing and looked out onto the dark ocean. It was almost like she had to convince herself the Whale Shark was truly dead and couldn´t followed them. Connor came to her. "How are you?", he asked.  
"Now that we are safe, I am doing very much better," she said and smiled.  
"Fine," he said and put his arm around her waist, "I know the perfect restaurant for our first date. Have you ever been to this small restaurant on the beach of Los Angeles, it´s called Magic Garden?"  
"No."  
"Excellent," said Connor, smiling, "I never been there, too. What do you think, if we go there?"  
"Sounds good... Are there any sharks?"  
"Some of it will be there, I guess. If you want a place where no sharks live, we must travel to North Pole."  
"That wouldn´t be nice... It's too cold," suddenly her headaches were worse and she fell to the ground. Connor caught her before she passed out and saw that her eyelids fluttered. He yelled to Sandy to raise the pressure for Queen Miranda and should go faster, so they reached the mainland. Lindsay lay motionless in his arms ...

Lindsay initially felt very tired and weak, but after one week in hospital she felt better. Her wrist hurt and it was still swollen and the skin was discolored in blue. Her forearm was also broken and the small laceration on her head was scraped up. Because of the concussion she couldn´t remember correctly what happened on Grand Banks and she had to stay in bed a few more days.  
Connor was also in hospital and he came to visit her every day. Yesterday she received a visit by Sandy, who told her the press had got wind of the story and some people in Hollywood were planning to make a movie. "You haven´t told me that there´s something between you and Connor," she said, "If it´s not true, you should do something. If things continue as before, Donner will be the name that is written on your grave stone."  
"Pardon?", Lindsay was confused.  
Sandy reported then today morning a man from Los Angeles was with her and he had questioned about some details. He was director and writer and because the story needed more liveliness, he decided he wanted to include a love story in the film. Likewise, the man shot a few photos of the animals which lived in Sandy´s Shark Reef Aquarium.  
The following Monday, Valentine's Day, Lindsay heard how a nurse told her colleague excited her husband had given her today a white orchid by delivery service and a card which says she should enjoy their coming soon holiday. Lindsay envied the nurse. Tired she fell back into her pillow and tried to look out of the window and enjoy the sunny day, when someone knocked on her door.  
"Miss Lindsay Donner?", asked a young man with a baseball cap and she turned her head toward the door, "I have a delivery for you." He placed a bouquet of white roses in a vase and put it on the table beside her bed.  
"Who sent the flowers?", she asked.  
"I don´t know," the man admitted, "I only deliver the flowers. The ladies in flower shop take care of the cards."  
The card! When the supplier was gone, she sat up in her bed and checked if there was a card between the roses. She hadn´t found a personal message from the person who sent her the flowers, but only a business card with the theme of the flower shop: "Happy Valentine's Day... and night... and the morning after..."  
She had almost forgotten today was Valentine's Day but because she didn´t know who sent her the flowers, it didn´t matter. It was a pity she hadn´t received any message. She let herself sink back again into the pillow and looked out of the window.  
"You look sad," a voice suddenly said and she looked to the door. It was Connor who came to visit her. He sat on a chair beside the bed and he ignored the flowers.  
"No, it's just ...", she didn´t know what to say. She was confused that she had received a bouquet of flowers by a secret admirer.  
"Fine. You might be happy to hear you can leave hospital in two days. I already called the headquarters and requested a two week holiday for both of us."  
She seemed to be surprised, because he had done that and looked at him surprised.  
"You wanted to go out with me, remember?"  
"Is that true?"  
He nodded. But if she was too tired to go out with him, he would not force her. Connor said goodbye to her, kissed her on the cheek and asked her if she liked the flowers. Then she realized the flowers were sent by him and she looked at him in astonishment. Connor left the hospital room and wanted to walk down the hall and pack his things because he was allowed to leave hospital today. Suddenly he heard a loud noise behind him. "Connor!", Lindsay called his name, she held onto the door frame. Her arm ached and she felt dizzy because she got up too fast, but she had to follow him. Connor immediately came back to her so she wouldn´t became unconscious and fell down to the ground and hurt worse.  
"Connor, I didn´t know you send the flowers," she breathed heavily.  
"You run after me because of a bouquet of roses?", he asked a little amused.  
"No, I love you and ... I'm running after you to do this again", she stretched out for him and kissed him. It felt warm and her entire body started to tingle. She held his hand in hers and noted delighted he also kissed her.  
"You should lie down again," Connor whispered very concerned when they had finished the kiss. Lindsay nodded.  
"Shall I pick you up in two days?"  
"It would be nice ...", she didn´t know why, but she couldn´t let go his hand. Connor took her back to her room and after he had assured himself she stayed in bed, he said goodbye to her with a kiss. It hadn´t been easy to deal with the shark, but it was over.  
He was sure that their future together had just begun...

Continue with Chapter 2!


	2. Shark Point The Movie

Title: Shark Point-The Movie (Shark Point 2)  
Author: DancingStar  
Pairing: Connor / Lindsay  
Spoiler: One year after my FF "Shark Point"  
Rating: 12 (I guess)  
Summary: The Bloodening continues...  
Comments: What a bummer! I had six days off in February and I wasn´t able to write one single line. When I had to go back to work I had 1,000 ideas...! By the way I am pleased to watch one of my favorite series again, "Germany's Next Top Model", on March 3rd. If you get the opportunity, watch it!

**Shark Point-The Movie **

"Have you heard that?", Peter wanted to know from Cooper, "Bruce Ryder finished his filming of Shark Point. The movie takes place today in cinemas." Peter poured Cooper and himself a cup of coffee while they waited in the headquarters for the next case.  
"Who plays my role?", Cooper asked out of interest. Peter even had a magazine in which he could read the first details about the movie. "I'm sorry," Peter said suddenly, "Your role has been deleted from the movie... But Lindsay's role is played by Amanda Peet and Connor is played by Keanu Reves."  
"Supposedly, the production of the film devoured $ 9,400,000", said another voice and suddenly Peter and Cooper looked at the door, leading into the rest room.  
"You're back," declared Peter, "How was your stay in China?"  
"Very nice," said Connor, "Where is Lindsay?"  
Cooper told him Lindsay was staying in her office and while Peter tried to figure out which actor took his role, Connor was on his way to Lindsay's office. He was lucky she was alone: She looked up with a beaming smile from her computer, when he had closed the door behind him. "I got your message that you´ve already returned from China," she said and got up to hug him. He was surprised when she quickly sat back behind her desk.  
"Didn´t you miss me in the last two weeks?", he asked and sat on her desk.  
"A little bit," she admitted, "But we shouldn´t do this in here, it's wrong."  
"Why?"  
"Because of your wife. Don´t you have any conscience?"  
"Why should I?"  
Lindsay looked at him and shook her head annoyed. "You should hear yourself talking…. What if someone catches us?"  
"Let me know if you're in a better temper," with these insulting words, Connor was on his way to the door when he remembered something very important.  
"I have something for you," Connor said suddenly, as he reached into his jacket pocket. He went back to her, stood behind her, and then carefully put a gold chain with a Chinese pendant around her neck.  
"It was manufactured just for you in China," he told her and pressed a kiss on her temple, "This signifies eternal love."  
"It is very beautiful," said Lindsay, when she saw the present, "Thanks!"  
"Then you won´t mind if you accompany me to the premiere of Shark Point tonight..." They got tickets for the movie premiere, after they were the presentation of the story.  
"Too late. I´ll go to the movies with Peter, Cooper, Natasha and Sandra Miles. But yes, you can come along if you want", she smiled, while Connor now went to the door. He had to write a report about the case in China. "I think I prefer to bring my wife to the premiere", he said and left.

When Connor came home from work, he handed his wife a gift that he had brought for her in China. It was a beautiful red silk kimono and it fit her like a glove. Now they were preparing themselves for the premiere of Shark Point-The Movie. They had never been to a movie premiere and that famous Hollywood stars came to town was particularly exciting.  
Connor was standing ready in the hallway and looked again at himself in the mirror. He looked perfect in his black suit. Actually, he was not vain, but ... "You look great", his wife was the same opinion, when she entered the bedroom. She wore a long, patterned dress and she arranged her hair in a beautiful hairdo.  
"It's really sweet to take me with you," she smiled and her eyes sparkled.  
"Hm ... Would you mind if we go in separate cars?", he asked suddenly and she was a little bit surprised.  
"But we'll meet later?", asked his wife and he nodded.  
"Yes, we'll meet then." He kissed her goodbye and left the house through the back door.

When he reached the cinema where the film was to be premiered, he met Lindsay in front of the building. "Hi," she smiled and grabbed his hand. Connor convinced himself that they wouldn´t be seen by anyone and leaned to her to kiss her. "You look very pretty," said Connor and Lindsay asked him why it took so long until he had noticed this. This afternoon was beautiful and sunny weather then a rain shower raged over the city. Most movie-goers and some press people already entered the building in which the cinema was located and they decided to do the same.  
Peter was talking to a person he knew and Connor and Lindsay came to him. Peter then ended the conversation, told his friends he had just met the director and he gave them each a glass of champagne, but Lindsay refused politely. "By the way I found out who's playing my role in the film. He is a real Superstar, the three most exciting names in TV history. It´s...", Peter wanted to tell them when the lights turned off and on for one moment. That was the sign the movie would start and they could now go to their seats.  
Lindsay was sitting next to Connor and from her seat she could see what dress Amanda Peet wore today evening. "Don´t worry, you look much better," he muttered, when the cinema lights turned off. He took her hand and held it in his.  
"You wanted to share this evening with your wife. So, where is she?", This question seemed to him like a dig.  
"I haven´t the faintest idea", he replied, "I hope she won´t be mad at me because I suggested to come in two different cars." So the problem was done for him.

The film took almost two hours and when it was over, Peter, Natasha, Sandra, Connor and Lindsay left the cinema together. Peter asked them what they wanted to do now, after all, it was only shortly after 10:00 p.m. Natasha and Sandra told them they would have to get up early tomorrow, because they would fly to Europe. Therefore, they left.  
"Maybe my wife is already waiting for me", Connor said. He went alone into the car park where he had parked his car, but he didn´t wait in front of his car. Instead, he leaned against Lindsay's black car. It didn´t take long, Lindsay came just five minutes later. "You were waiting for me?" , She sounded surprised, "You wanted to drive home, remember?"  
"Maybe you haven´t missed me while I was in China, but I've missed you a lot."  
She pushed him roughly aside otherwise she could not unlock her car.  
"Give me just one night, Linds...", he said and she shook her head amused: "Stop flirting with me."  
"Too bad, I enjoy this so much."  
"You never give up, eh?"  
Connor knew he had caught her now. She was aching to be alone with him, too. Of course, she had missed him while he was in China, but she did not want to show it. "Get your car," she said finally, "I hope you still know where I live."

After 01:00 a.m. in the morning, Connor stretched in bed and put his arm around the blonde woman who was lying next to him. Lindsay smiled at him happy. It was so good to spend the night with him. As she snuggled up to him, she noticed a bouquet of white roses, standing on the dresser beside the door. The flowers were a present by him.  
The floor of the bedroom was literally paved with their clothing. She still remembered how he sent her a bouquet of white roses to the hospital one year ago on Valentine´s day. Afterwards their relationship became great, but some day they came to the point where it wasn´t how they had wished for.  
"Connor, I hate it."  
"What?", He didn´t know what she meant.  
"The secrecy. The problem is, I can´t hide for long."  
He lifted his head confused. "What do you mean?"  
"I'm pregnant," she told him quick and easy, "Two month." She knew it since two weeks but she couldn´t tell him about the baby on the phone. Because then he wouldn´t be able to stay focused on his case and it was very hard for him to do so when she was thousands of miles away. Since she worked in the headquarters his trips were never the same.  
And now she had no clue how she should think about it. She was tired of playing hide and registered only half when Connor kissed her euphoric on the temple. He whispered how wonderful it was and how much he wanted a baby.  
"The problem is, everybody is thinking you´re cheating your wife with me..."  
"No one thinks that," he corrected her and tried to kiss her.  
"Everybody thinks, you´re cheating your wife with me," she repeated, "But they don´t know that I'm your wife."  
Peter was the only one who knew about it. He had caught them one day in the office when they had kissed. At these time everybody at the office already knew, that Connor was apparently married (once he had forgotten to take off his wedding ring), Peter had asked them if they were actually quite crazy. After all, Connor was just married. Connor then said Peter should not be upset- after all they weren´t doing anything wrong, because Lindsay was the woman he had secretly married. Peter had to promise not to tell anyone and he kept his word. Actually, Peter had suspected that there was more between Connor and Lindsay, one year ago at Shark Point. And he wondered why he hadn´t noticed for a very long time. Somehow, they managed to do it secretly... But it wouldn´t last longer now. When their superiors would find out that they had been married months ago, they would fire at least one of them mercilessly. Connor did not want that Lindsay lost her job. She loved her job, but he knew she loved him much more. He was ready to give up his job because of her and she was ready to put her career on hold for him. They found something that was much stronger than anything else in the world. Love.  
"Where will we end up?", he thought to himself. "We will handle that, do you hear? And we´ll have a beautiful, sweet and healthy baby."  
She nodded in agreement, before they fell asleep a little calmer.

Connor was surprised at the very next morning about a report on breakfast television. First, the newscaster reported about the premiere of Shark Point, which was nothing strange. But then they showed pictures of a destroyed water tank and a semi-submerged aquarium plant. Connor didn´t believe these report was part of the film and followed the story for a while. As he learned a shark, which had disappeared without a trace this morning, lived in the basin. On the shards of the destroyed tank blood traces were found that were examined at the moment.  
"Good morning," said Lindsay, when she entered the kitchen of their home. Today she felt very well: For a change she hadn´t to struggle with morning sickness today. Of course, she noticed he was watching the news.  
"Who steals a shark from an aquarium plant?", she asked, biting into a muffin. He reached for the remote control, turned off the TV and asked her how she was this morning. She stated she felt fantastic. Now that Connor knew about the baby, it felt even better when they made plans for the future together. "I was thinking that I may could start to work in headquarters, too," Connor said suddenly, "Then I´d be home and could help you with the baby."  
"Connor," she admonished him and took another muffin, "We both know you would never be happy with office work."  
"This is exactly the point, my darling," he muttered, getting up and kissed her on the cheek, "To be happy. This is the most important thing. And I wouldn´t be happier with you and the baby." She thanked him for this wonderful speech and then they set off to work together.

"Guess where the shark, who disappeared from the Sea Life Aquarium, comes from", asked Peter and submitted Connor a newspaper. The news was even in the newspaper and Peter had called the aquarium and asked some details about the shark. "The shark was caught in the vicinity of Shark Point in Oregon and was brought here for research purposes."  
"But who steals a shark?", asked Lindsay.  
"I don´t fear that it was stolen," Peter's voice sounded very dramatic, "Meanwhile, we evaluated the blood on the shards of the tank: it is shark blood. That means he did it. The shark destroyed the tank." Excited, Peter went up and down in the small office.  
"Where is the shark now?" Lindsay recalled that the aquarium was fairly flooded in the morning news. The shark hadn´t been found there. She knew what Peter would say next: "Either he was stolen but that´s impossible", the door of the aquarium was destroyed from the inside and not from the outside how evidences proofed, "Or even he did that. Perhaps this animal is mutated like the Whale Shark one year ago. Perhaps its mutation already progressed much further", Peter hardly dared to think, "So he can travel on land."  
Connor thought it was nonsense, but he should realize soon enough Peter and his presumption should not be wrong: In lunch break, he invited Lindsay and Peter for dinner in a nearby restaurant. They had a table right by the window and Peter cut an egg roll in a half. "Taste spring rolls better in China?", Peter asked.  
"Much better," agreed Connor. His two-week stay in China was nice, but he still had not learned to eat with chopsticks. Lindsay looked at him with a loving smile as he told about his journey. And he just mentioned to work in headquarters!  
Connor noticed how she was staring at him and he asked if everything was alright. She nodded vigorously and said she had just thought about their conversation this morning. Peter wanted to ask what it was, but he left it.  
"Connor suggested today morning, to work in indoor service now," Lindsay reported. Finally, before Peter they hadn´t to mince matters. Peter furrowed his brow and Lindsay noticed it. "He believes I can´t handle the baby."  
"The baby?", Peter was surprised.  
"Yes," Lindsay nodded without batting an eye, "We're pregnant ... Or better: I'm pregnant. Due Date will be in October."  
Excited they were waiting for Peter´s reaction and he opened his mouth to say something, in this moment they heard, however, outside a loudly screaming woman in the street. At an adjoining table two police officers sat who now frantically got up and went outside. They wanted to check why the woman was so upset. In no time a crowd had gathered around them. Peter, Connor and Lindsay also left the restaurant and in the crowd they pushed some people aside. They saw a human body wrapped in a tarpaulin was lying behind a dumpster. It was a man, he had opened his eyes and mouth wide and the lower half of his body was missing. The blood on his remains had already been dried and his skin was pale.  
Lindsay suddenly felt sick and she felt as if her lunch would come up again every moment. She turned on her heels, leaving Connor and Peter at the situation. More and more policemen arrived, they sent away the crowds. But Connor found something strange next to the body. He discovered a razor- sharp tooth. He knew immediately where he had seen it before.

The next day, a Saturday, they picked up their guest from the airport. They needed help cause they knew they couldn´t solve this case alone. Actually, Connor and Lindsay had also thought the nightmare would had come to an end one year ago with the death of the mutant female Whale Shark, but apparently this was not the case. Now it went on here.  
When Connor found the tooth on crime scene it was clear that this was not done by a dog or other mammal. The memory of how a female Whale Shark opened the giant mouth right in front of them was still present. So he called yesterday evening at the Shark Reef aquarium on the island of Shark Point. First, he and Sandy talked about various things and Connor told he already saw Shark Point- The Movie. Then he wanted to know whether she wanted to leave her home for a while and come by. Sandy had promised to help and she was delighted they had asked her.  
They invited three suitcases into the trunk of their car and Connor wondered why she needed all that luggage. "I'm going to Georgia afterwards. There is a large aquarium, in which Whale Sharks live", she said, "The animals in these aquarium plants can´t reach the same size as the wild animals in the sea."  
"Fortunately," Connor muttered and they drove off. When he thought about that such a giant shark was to blame for the incident in the city yesterday, then... While he drove, he looked for the tooth in his jacket pocket and handed it to their guest. "Can you tell me what kind of a shark it was?"  
"Great White Shark", the answer came immediately, "Where did you find it?"  
"Here," Connor braked the car in front of the restaurant where they ate lunch yesterday and where the body was found. But they were in the middle of the city. They decided they needed to show something to Sandy. So they went into the aquarium where a shark disappeared yesterday. Meanwhile, the municipal fire brigade had pumped the water out of the building, so it was accessible again. It was also re-opened for tourists. Connor, Lindsay and Sandy were only allowed to enter the area with the damaged shark tank because Connor and Lindsay show off their ID Cards. With a scrutiny Sandy looked at the pots in front of the destroyed tank. "Peter says the shark who lived here, was caught off the coast of Oregon."  
Sandy knew what Lindsay wanted to say. "Do you think the shark is also mutated?" It was even obvious, no one had stolen it: transporting a living shark was not easy. "Which shark lived here in this pool?", she asked.  
With a nod Connor pointed to her hand. She held the answer in her palm and a small information board next to the destroyed tank, was also saying it was a Great White Shark.

To look for the shark in the city was as pointless as looking for a needle in a haystack. The police still believed they were looking for a maniacal killer who cut his victims abdomen. Actually, this detail was true, but it was a shark: A mutant shark that was not only on the road in water but also on land. While Connor and Lindsay showed their visitor from the west coast the OSIR building, Sandy tried to imagine how the shark might looked like. She wondered if the shark had some legs?  
In all probability, because without the shark could not move on land. But how was it breathing? Out of the water it was impossible to survive with gill breathing.  
Sandy was happy to see her uncle and Peter again. The building it was very impressive. Then it was evening and Lindsay invited her to their house for dinner.  
"In which hotel will I stay?", Sandy asked during the meal. Connor on the phone had promised he would take care of everything, including her hotel.  
"You´ll stay here."  
"What? On your couch?"  
"Because of the film presentation of Shark Point, all hotels are booked into the city," recalled Connor and he reported again, whether he liked the film. After dinner Sandy helped with the dishes, Connor had gone upstairs to his office.  
"How are you?", asked Sandy. She had the feeling something was different than usual.  
"I´m very fine. I have followed your advice one year ago... The thing with the grave stone, do you remember?" One year ago in the hospital Sandy told her that Lindsay should do something if she and Connor were no couple. Otherwise, Donner would be the name that would be written on her grave stone. "We got married ... And I'm pregnant. But keep it to yourself. Except you only Peter knows."  
"This are very good news."  
"Yes... Are you tired?"  
"A little bit."  
"Then I'll leave you alone now," suggested Lindsay and took a small ice cream cup from the freezer. Fortunately, she had already brought her guest pillow and blanket before. With the ice cream in her hand, she walked up the stairs. Connor was still in his office, but he wasn´t sitting behind his desk. It was a very nice office, right next to their bedroom and Lindsay was curious to see how he responded to the question to establish the nursery room here and if his office could move into the basement.  
"Honey?", She called softly after him because she couldn´t see him immediately in the dark. Finally she discovered him: He was sitting with outstretched legs on the floor, leaning against the wall.  
"Is everything all right?", she asked anxiously. She thought he was sitting there because he was not well.  
"I've been thinking a little bit," he said and smiled at her.  
"About what?", She sat down on his thighs and started right in front of him, to eat her ice cream.  
"I can´t believe that we are so unlucky and another mutant shark appears... And also, hundreds of miles away from Shark Point."  
"One year ago we didn´t know how many animals were involved in the incident," said Lindsay while she was eating, "Who knows, perhaps there are more." Those were nice prospects!  
"I want you to take care about yourself as long as this shark is out there. I could not bear if something happens to you or the baby."  
It was very sweet of him he was worried about her and she nodded in agreement.  
"Is this strawberry ice cream?", he asked then.  
"Yes, it was still in the freezer."  
"And it´s the last cup. After you ate all the other cups, I actually wanted to eat the last one." He tried not to sound reproachful. Finally she was eating for two now.  
"Sorry," Lindsay took a look at the paper cup. It was empty. Suddenly she had an idea. If he really wanted to try the ice cream... then she put down the cup, put her hands on his cheeks and kissed him. After the kiss Lindsay asked if he was tired, she was very tired. Connor nodded and smiled at her. He was amazed how she always managed to turn his mood from one moment to the next into contrary. All at he felt much more relieved than before. They got up and together they went to bed.

The incident with the half corpse still seemed to bother the press. At Sunday's breakfast Connor and Lindsay watched a report about the incident and because they heard nothing for the rest of the day, they decided together to go out at night. So they met Peter in the evening in a sports bar. They liked to meet in such places, because usually none of their other colleagues came here. Here, Connor and Lindsay could behave like a normal couple which was in love. There were not many places except from their home, where this was possible.  
While they waited for their drinks, Peter and Connor watched a rugby match on television. They watched how the men in black uniforms on the field danced a strange performed. "What's that?", asked Sandy.  
"This is the Haka. The All Blacks from New Zealand used to dance this before each rugby match."  
"I don't wanted to know!", Sandy interrupted Peter and she drank a glass of brandy with one sip. She coughed, because the drink was so bitter. A sports host on television told the victory of today's match would be worth one million dollars.  
"One million dollars, that would be what we need now, right?", Connor asked his wife. He held her in his arms.  
"Connor read that a child can cost up to $ 100,000 till it´s eighteen," Lindsay told to her friends and she drank a sip of iced tea. They actually had no financial problems.  
"And what will you do then with the remaining $ 900,000?"  
"Having nine other kids," was Connors response and Lindsay puffed him gently into the side.  
"Ten kids!", she cried, laughing, "Oh, you're crazy. I would be happy with one healthy baby."  
But first, Connor thought, he should buy his sweetheart a gift. The day after tomorrow was Valentine's Day and again he had a great idea to surprise her and show how much he loved her. Finally, it was a special day for them and that's why he had brought her a further, valuable gift from China. It was a golden bracelet which other Chinese pendants.  
A waitress brought them their drinks and they stayed in the bar until the rugby match was over.

"What kind of lunch do you like today?", asked Connor on Monday when he walked into Lindsay's office and closed the door behind him.  
"You could almost think you're the pregnant person in here", she whispered, grinning. She did not want anyone to hear them. "Unfortunately I have to work here..."  
It was quiet in the city, no more mysterious incidents had happened, but they had heard the police raided all waters and woods.  
"Then I go with Peter and Sandy and we'll get every food you want", he suggested.  
"That sounds good... I would like fried vegetables with rice and for dessert, in honey fried bananas."  
"Your wish is my command," Connor kissed her goodbye, left her office and he went with Peter and Sandy to the Chinese restaurant where they had lunch last week. They ordered their food and waited for ten minutes, when again out on the road a woman screamed for help. This time, Peter and Connor were faster: they rushed through the crowd. Peter stopped next to the bewildered woman who had called for help. Behind a dumpster Connor discovered one pair of legs, which lay motionless on the ground. He noticed the blood and when heard a noise in the darkness of the shadow, he discovered an upright walking figure with angular head, sharp teeth and soulless eyes. Connor knew immediately what it was.

She was sitting behind her computer and wrote a report, when her phone rang. "Just this sentence," she muttered, tapping on hard and then answered the phone. "Hello?", she asked and trapped the phone between shoulder and cheek.  
"Lindsay, this is Sandy!", the caller´s voice sounded very panicky, "You have to come! The shark is here... Connor is hurt... We are in hospital." The connection broke and the phone fell on the table. Connor was injured! That was all she could think about. With trembling hands she searched for her purse, her car keys and then ran from her office. Stunned, she went into the garage and in her car she drove to the hospital.  
Desperately, she tried to find Connor and when she saw Peter sitting in front of a hospital room, she wanted to talk to the nurse which had just spoken to Peter.  
"Can you tell me how Connor Doyle is? He's my husband!"  
"Your ID, please," said the nurse and Lindsay desperately searched in her purse after her identification card. However, she only found the old OSIR- ID card.  
"It says your name is Donner..."  
"Yes, this is my old card ... I... I have not applied for a new one." That was the truth.  
The nurse wondered if she should believe Lindsay, or not. "I'm sorry, I can´t tell you how he is."  
"She IS his wife", Peter approved, "Please tell her."  
"No," said the nurse, "I can´t tell you."  
Lindsay thought she knew why she didn´t want to tell her. She suspected that he... Oh, God. He was dead! She felt as if someone pulled the rug out from under her. Her heart began to race and her throat was like constricted. What should now become of her and the baby? She wanted to scream, but she couldn´t. Tears shot in her eyes. A thick lump formed in her throat.  
Suddenly the door the room opened to and Connor came out. He looked very tired. "Connor," she cried and hugged him, "What happened?"  
"A man had a heart attack. Peter and I brought him here... Don´t worry, I'm fine." He felt how relieved she was. Lindsay wanted to chop Sandy´s head off! What occurred to her to scare her to death on the phone!  
She breathed deeply and broke the hug with Connor, whose shirt was smeared with dried blood. She noticed in the corner of her eye, how Sandy came to them. She apologized for the phone call: When they had heard the shouting in the street and Connor and Peter had run out, she lost track. Suddenly, the screams became even louder and Peter yelled to her from the middle of the crowd she should call an ambulance. Sandy had thought Connor was hurt and after the doctor was notified, she decided to call Lindsay. She had no idea that another man at crime scene had a heart attack when he saw the corpse.  
"I have to sit down for a while," said Lindsay. She felt nauseated and dizzy.  
Connor sat down with her on a couch in the waiting room, Sandy and Peter got her something to drink. He came back five minutes later and looked very upset. That he had brought a cup of mineral water for Lindsay, he had almost forgotten.  
"I heard two police officers talking!", said Peter, "They said, bloody footprints were found at the crime scene and judging by the profile, it is Nike´s."  
"You mean, we´re looking for a shark with sneakers?", asked Lindsay. Her circulation was suddenly well, she felt much better.  
With a loud bang the door to the waiting room opened and Sandy rushed in. "It's not a real shark," Sandy told and turned on the little TV in the waiting room, "It´s on the news! Someone here played a bad trick on us and the police. Some people in television are assuming Bruce Ryder is responsible because he had feared Shark Point- The Movie would flop at the cinema box office. He needed a good lead story for his film. His assistant was just arrested in a shark costume in Downtown."  
"But the shark's teeth... and the corpse..."  
"It was all part of the plan. No idea where he got a half corpse from."  
"Where is Ryder now?"  
"I don´t know. He probably left the country and is somewhere where he can enjoy the publicity for his latest film."  
"If that's true," said Peter, "Then we all fell for a perfect trick." But things still didn´t fit together. If it really was only a perfect show, where was now the shark which had disappeared from the aquarium in the city? He said that question out loud.  
"This is obviously a mystery," agreed Sandy, "And to be honest, I don´t know. Last night, few people from Greenpeace abandoned a shark off the coast. Probably it was the missing shark." It was quite impossible that someone stole a shark. But maybe someone broke into the Aquarium, had destroyed the tank and brought then the shark to another place. Maybe that someone had spared no effort to manipulate the evidences.  
"So, we have to resign the fact we have fallen for a trick?", asked Connor and everybody nodded. It wasn´t a nice imagination and he would have felt much better when he knew that the beast was finally dead. They weren´t even hunting a beast, but a phantom.  
"Let's go home," Lindsay suggested in a soft voice and reached for his hand.  
That was actually a very good suggestion. Together they walked to the exit and Connor put his arm around Lindsay. "Do you know what you're doing now?", she asked. The public hug irritated her.  
"I know. Now everybody should know about us and they can talk about it as much as they want", he finally turned to Peter, "Peter, won´t you stop by for dinner next weekend? And bring the team."  
"Are you sure?"  
"As Lindsay said: We won´t be able to hide it for long."

They had never invited their friends to their home. Lindsay was looking forward because it was a step into the right direction. With this dinner they showed them they were a couple. A happily married couple, who was having the first baby in October. For some reason, however, Lindsay was nervous. What would her colleagues think if they saw her home for the first time? For a moment she regretted that she hadn´t invited them not just to a restaurant. But at that moment the door bell rang. So it was too late to call everyone and take back the invitation.  
"Honey, would you please take the cheese from the oven?", Lindsay asked as she walked to the door.  
Peter was their first guest. He greeted with a loud "Hello" and handed her a bottle of champagne. Then he entered. "Very modern," was his comment to the house and Lindsay noticed it with a nod. She had feared that someone would think her home looked like a sterile doctor's office.  
The bell rang again, and with the champagne bottle Lindsay went back to the door. Cooper and Claire were horrified when they saw the bottle in Lindsay´s hand and Claire now took the bottle. Then some other friends arrived. After they had eaten, Claire presented her gift and she apologized she did not know what she should buy: So she had purchased a pink and a blue baby romper suit.  
"Oh God, they are so tiny!", Lindsay called out delighted when she took the romper suits.  
"Actually, we also wanted to give you something, isn´t it true Uncle Cooper?", Sandy asked her uncle and he nodded approvingly, "But we thought a young Carpet Shark for the garden pond is a fairly hindering pet." She saw the relief in Connors and Lindsay´s eyes. Carpet Sharks were not dangerous.  
"Then we decided to get you another gift," Sandy went into the hall, where her uncle had dropped a box with air holes after entering the house. She told Connor and Lindsay, that their new four-legged roommate was man's best friend but he took no food, needed no walks, he never barked and veterinary costs were virtually zero. Connor and Lindsay stared to the brown box, when Sandy put it on the floor and when she reached for the lid everybody was expecting that a dog was going to jump out of the box. But nothing happened.  
So they looked into the box and found there a cream cake on which a dog was shown. "The dessert is opened!", declared Sandy.  
Lindsay laughed, relieved and hugged Connor. "Oh, I thought a dog would be sitting in the box."  
"Would that be bad?"  
"No. Honey, I know how much you want a dog, but we still have plenty of time to buy one." First, they would have to accustom to the baby when it was born.  
Cooper has now received a piece of cream gateau. "You may like to have one of my dogs?", Sandy asked as she handed out the cake. She recently had two dogs and they were terribly annoying.  
"As long as we own no shark, it's okay", still on Connors side, Lindsay patted affectionately her husband´s chest.  
"After what happened, I would be very grateful if we never need to see a shark", announced Peter. With exception of Sandy everybody agreed. Although this time the shark and the horror had not been real, they hoped they´d be spared in future.

Fin


End file.
